I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Maya Angelou

Apr 2009 · Sold by Random House

About this ebook

Maya Angelou’s memoir is a modern American classic, capturing the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry, and the wonder of words that can make the world right.

“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings liberates the reader into life simply because Maya Angelou confronts her own life with such a moving wonder, such a luminous dignity.”—James Baldwin

Sent by their mother to live with their devout, self-sufficient grandmother in a small Southern town, Maya and her brother, Bailey, endure the ache of abandonment and the prejudice of the local “powhitetrash.” At eight years old and back at her mother’s side in St. Louis, Maya is attacked by a man many times her age—and must live with the consequences for a lifetime. Years later, in San Francisco, Maya learns that love towards herself, the kindness of others, her own strong spirit, and the ideas of great authors (“I met and fell in love with William Shakespeare”) will allow her to be free rather than imprisoned.

Poetic and powerful, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings will touch hearts and change minds for as long as people read.

Ratings and reviews

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a powerful and moving memoir about a young Black girl growing up in the American South during the Jim Crow era. Maya Angelou writes beautifully about her experiences with racism, poverty, and violence. The book is both heartbreaking and hopeful, and it's a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about the civil rights movement.

pPlesse help me to survive my family all plus ones killing themselves off over me attacked plus their kids 30 devoured and from gata guys Ruebens Apollo and into Tim plus others Baltimore and into Trump lost his 10 plus myself offered up for 30 trill and worked into 200 trill add this back for the Olympics and lose Theresa Judge Now a Vick issues major for all Palaces

Hard to tell what any of the story was building up to or where it was going. It was supposed to show the hardships of a young black girl in the southern US during the 40's but felt more like a diary than an actual story

About the author

Maya Angelou was raised in Stamps, Arkansas. In addition to her bestselling autobiographies, including I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and The Heart of a Woman, she wrote numerous volumes of poetry, among them Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise, On the Pulse of Morning, and Mother. Maya Angelou died in 2014.